Atlanta Injury Attorneys Blog

It is incredibly sad and frustrating when there are deaths and injuries that are completely unnecessary.For example, our Atlanta car accident attorneys (http://www.sclawpc.com/) recently read a tragic story involving entirely preventable death that occured last week, about a foolish street race that killed a young man and an infant boy.

Last Friday morning, 22 year old Kyrie Alassen Anderson was driving her Honda Accord on I-20 westbound near Conyers, about 25 miles outside Atlanta. She and boyfriend, 19 year old Edi Rodriguez, were taking her seven month old son Hunter to visit friends, having left her older son, three year old Blake, with a babysitter.

According to the police reports, Anderson started racing with another vehicle on the road. At some point, Anderson lost control of her car, hit a guardrail, and went back across two westbound lanes, where the Accord was hit by Chevy Silverado pickup truck.

Police Sergeant Jeff Puckett said, "One mistake, a mechanical failure, a tire problem, a tire blow out, anything can happen." Anderson was injured with a broken neck and multiple fractures and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. The people in the Chevy pickup truck- Jody Shane Richardson, 34, and Terry Lee Chaney, 48- were also injured and taken to the hospital and released. Tragically, both passengers in Anderson's car- Edi Rodriguez and Hunter, whose grandmother called "a good little boy" always playing and smiling- died in the car crash. Another less serious accident occurred right after when a car tried to slow down because of the crash and was rear ended by another car.

Anderson has told reporters that Rodriguez was the one driving and the incident started because another vehicle was driving too close to them. She claimed Rodriguez left the car after the accident to check on Hunter and was killed after being hit by a passing car. Rodriguez's family told reporters they don't want Anderson to face charges because she has been through enough. A spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol said the other driver, the one Anderson was racing against, has been identified and will be interviewed in the ongoing investigation of this fatal crash. The investigation has been turned over to the GSP's Special Collision Reconstruction Team, and charges, if any, will be filed after the investigation is over.

Atlanta Car Accident Lawyers
This tragedy was something that did not need to happen. Dangerous driving is 100 percent avoidable, and is a choice a driver makes. If someone in your family has been hurt by a negligent driver, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter can able to help you understand your case and any options to move forward with legal avenues. Contact the Law Office of Sammons & Carpenter today at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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Georgia has an excellent university system, which Georgians are rightly proud of. But there has been a medical issue in recent years that is worrying, especially to parents of college age (or soon to be college age) children. Our Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers have seen recent stories in the news about the problems with abuse of ADHD medicine on campuses.

The root of the problem is that students today are abusing ADHD medicine, such as Adderall, because the stimulant increases focus and concentration for getting school-work done. In a competitive environment, the drug is seen as a way to have an edge over other students and a recent study showed that as many as one third of US college students are abusing medicines like Adderall. Of course, abusing drugs meant to treat conditions a person does not have always has a dark side. In this case, abusing these stimulant medications has been linked to anxiety, depression, and even suicide.
Mixed with students' desire for these drugs are overburdened campus health care centers. In our own state, Georgia Tech said their student health center was so overwhelmed by requests of students for ADHD medications that they can no longer handle the requests.

These problems lead to an ongoing case involving a Harvard student. Johnny Edwards received an ADHD diagnosis at Harvard's Health Services in June 2007, just after his freshman year. He was examined only once by a nurse specialist. Marianne Cannon, the nurse, said Johnny complained that he could not concentrate on schoolwork as much as his friends and that he thought his father "may have had" ADHD. She also said he mentioned two traffic violations and that he drank Red Bull to help him concentrate.

Cannon diagnosed Johnny based on these facts at the one medical visit, and she wrote him a prescription for Adderall, which this type of nurse is allowed to do in Massachusetts. In the months that followed, Johnny became depressed and was prescribed anti-depressants by the same Health Services. Six months after the June diagnosis, Johnny committed suicide. Johnny's father, John Edwards, blames Harvard Health Services for his son's death and filed a lawsuit against the university. Mr. Edwards claims Johnny never had ADHD and that his diagnosis and prescription for Adderall did not meet medical standards. The case will go to trial in February next year.
With this problem rampant on college campuses, and Georgia Tech specifically telling news sources their health services are overwhelmed by requests for ADHD diagnoses and medications, it cannot be long before more cases like Johnny's are litigated. It will be interesting to see how the courts deal with the issue, and how campuses continue to struggle with this serious problem.

Atlanta Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If someone in your family has been hurt by a negligent medical professional, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter can able to help you understand your case and any options to move forward with legal avenues. Contact the Law Office of Sammons & Carpenter as soon as possible at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation today.

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Our Atlanta car accident attorneys, like everyone in the area, spent last weekend trying to stay dry and safe in the stormy weather. Area news reports highlighted the flash flood warnings and rain in northern Georgia. Several parks were closed due to rising water from local creeks and rivers. Tree branches felled power lines and thousands of Georgians were without power. Some areas got five inches of rain, with three inches on Saturday alone, a record for the area. This weather also had an impact on the roadways, which were slick with rain, and there were two horrific vehicle accidents on Saturday in Greene County with two fatalities.

At 11:25am about three miles west of Lake Oconee Parkway on I-20, 26 year old Coranda Nicole Peeples, from Morrow, was driving her Honda Accord when she lost control of the car, crossed the median and was hit by an oncoming tractor trailer. The impact sliced the car into two pieces and Ms. Peeples and her 29 year old passenger, Calverence Roshard Lee from Wrens, Georgia, were ejected from the car. Calverence Roshard Lee tragically died and Coranda Nicole Peeples was taken to Athens Regional hospital with serious injuries.

Another fatal crash happened at 2pm on the same road when a tractor trailer approached traffic backed up by the first accident near mile marker 127, hitting a Ford Crown Victoria. The Crown Victoria went into a spin, was hit by the tractor trailer a second time and then hit the back end of a different tractor trailer. A 17 year old passenger in the back seat of the car, Annaleah Karth from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, was killed in that accident and three other people in the car were taken to the hospital. The driver of the tractor trailer was taken to the hospital as well. This crash is still under investigation by the Georgia State Patrol, and charges may be pending in this accident.

Both of these tragic accidents, and the deaths that resulted, were partially caused by the bad weather but both could have also been influences by driver error. This shows how vitally important it is to drive more carefully in the rain when the roads are slick. A minor mistake in driving could cause even more harm in these dangerous situations than it normally would, and people's lives are at stake, so drivers must be aware of the consequences.

Atlanta Car and Truck Accident Attorneys
If you or a family member have been injured by a negligent driver of a personal vehicle or a commercial tractor trailer, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter can able to help you understand your case and any options to move forward with legal avenues. Our lawyers have worked with all different types of vehicle accident cases and will work to get you the compensation you need and deserve. Contact the Law Office of Sammons & Carpenter as soon as possible at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation today.

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Our Atlanta worker's compensation attorneys have heard about the problems with Pilgrim's Pride Corp. in Georgia, especially after a worker died last year. However, we were still worried to see the number of violations and worker safety problems that were reported on recently. It has important implications for Georgia and others as Pilgrim's Pride employs 38,500 people in 12 states, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

The problems are at the company's chicken processing facility in Canton, Georgia, where a worker was killed in October 2012. Employee Christopher Chin, a 37 year old Canton resident, died when he was caught in a machine at that facility. At the time, he was trying to remove a piece of cardboard from the machine, called a "hopper,",which did not have a safety guard to keep employees out. Bill Fulcher, from OSHA's Atlanta-East Area office, said, "Establishing safety and health programs that identify and remove hazards before a worker gets injured or sick goes to the very core of providing a safe and healthful workplace. In this case, a tragic loss resulted from equipment that could easily have been guarded."

After Mr. Chin's tragic death, the US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated the Canton facility and issued a report in April. The failure to have a barrier on the machine where Mr. Chin died, which may have contributed to his death, was one of eight violations cited at that facility. Along with that violation, three others were deemed "serious." A serious violation is one when there is a substantial probability of death or serious harm from the particular hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. Lesser violations are those that relate to health and safety but would probably not cause death or serious harm. Other than the missing safety barriers, the other serious violation was that the company failed to conduct annual periodic inspections of energy control procedures since 2005. And some of the violations were repeat violations, which were violations cited by OSHA at a previous inspection in 2011. One of the repeat violations was that the electrical cords didn't have an effective strain relief device. Another was failing to include the process needed for the removal of locks and start-up following lockout.

From these violations, Pilgrim's Pride faces $58,755 in fines. When they received the report, the company had 15 days to comply, respond with a request for a meeting with OSHA's Atlanta- East Area office, or contest the citations of violations before the Independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Atlanta Worker's Compensation Attorneys
If you or a family member have been injured in a workplace accident, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter may be able to help you get the compensation you need and deserve. Contact the Law Office of Sammons & Carpenter as soon as possible at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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Our medical malpractice lawyers have recently discussed several medical malpractice issues on this blog, and we noticed yet another Georgia case that caught our attention. The family of a DeKalb County man was awarded $17 million for the malpractice of a physician's assistant that caused the brain injuries of their son.

What happened to 24-year-old Sheriod Merritt is a tragic story. In 2008, when he was 19-years-old, he was shot in the face by a stray bullet from a drive by shooting outside a Wal-Mart in Lovejoy. He was shot through the cheek and could speak, and his mother said he appeared fine just after the shooting. The wound was determined not life-threatening. Merritt was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where the doctors told the family he would be okay after surgery, and when he woke up he could be taken home to recover. The young man was apparently very anxious about the surgery and told his father that he loved him before being taken away. When Patrick and Angela Merritt came to pick up their son the next day, he was in a coma. They claim the doctors never told them what happened to Sheriod during the surgery or what went wrong. All they knew was that their son, who was still talking and walking the day before even after being shot, had suffered some kind of brain trauma and could hardly speak and could not walk anymore.

The Merritt's turned to the legal system to try to get answers about their son. The case was tried in the DeKalb County State Court with Judge Wayne Purdom. In their lawsuit, the family alleged that the anesthesiologist, Dr. James Richardson, from Emory University Hospital and a physician's assistant, Richard Nardi, at Grady Hospital, didn't follow proper procedure when Sheriod was waking up after his surgery. The family says a preventable error with his breathing tube caused Sheriod to go without oxygen for seven to eight minutes, causing the brain damage. The hospital contends that Sheriod woke from the anesthesia violently, fighting with medical personnel, at which point he dislodged his own breathing tube. The statement said the medical personnel were only doing their job by acting quickly in order to save Sheriod's life.

The jury in the court case found the Merritt's arguments compelling and awarded the family more than $17 million after finding the anesthesiologist and physician's assistant liable, as well as Grady Hospital and Emory University Hospital. Sheriod's mother, Angela, told reporters, however, "I really can't give you a total that would make up for what we lost."

Atlanta Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you or a family member have been injured by a negligent medical professional, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter may be able to help you get the compensation you need and deserve. Contact the Law Office of Sammons & Carpenter as soon as possible at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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A recent study, as reported in the Washington Post, showed that errors in diagnosing patients is the main source of medical malpractice claims. This study, lead by Dr. David Newman-Toker, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Ali Saber Tehrani, looked into 25 years of malpractice payments to discover this fact. The researchers looked into 350,000 medical malpractice claims in which payment was made from 1986 until 2010.

What they mean by diagnostic errors are things like diagnosing appendicitis when the patient has an ectopic pregnancy or diagnosing simple dizziness when the patient is having a brainstem stroke. Often the correct diagnosis is eventually arrived at, but not until the condition is more complicated to treat and has possibly disabled the patient. The study did not delve into why diagnostic errors were so common, but Dr. Newman-Toker said that diagnosis is a difficult and imprecise process and there is often a time lapse between the mistake and when it is discovered, making it also harder to correct in enough time to make a difference. There are also no public reporting requirements for these types of mistakes.

Dr. Newman-Toker said, "Diagnostic errors are the most common, the most costly and the most deadly of all medical errors." They accounted for 29 percent of successful malpractice claims and 35 percent of the total money paid out. Incorrect, missed, or delayed diagnosis also caused 39 percent of malpractice deaths. Other categories of medical mistakes listed were treatment errors and surgical mishaps, the other two largest categories of malpractice claims, and obstetric problems, medication errors, and anesthesia errors.

Diagnostic errors have an estimated death toll of 40,000 to 80,000 Americans per year- and about half of them had conditions that could have been successfully treated if diagnosed correctly. In 41 percent of the diagnostic error cases noted in the study, the patient died, which is the highest percentage in any of the malpractice categories. In terms of money paid out for the errors, errors of diagnosis were second only to obstetric errors and on average patients received $389,000.

By way of potential solutions or ways to reduce these mistakes, Dr. Newman-Toker did not think more tests are necessarily helpful. These tests, like CT scans for everyone complaining of dizziness, cost hundreds of millions of dollars in total and are almost useless in determining the cause of dizziness, he says. It seems, in the end, the best options are to have doctors be more careful and have more time with patients, but it is a serious problem and addressing it will be critical for increased medical safety.

Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyers
If you or a family member have suffered from medical malpractice, including from a misdiagnosis, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter may be able to help you get the compensation you need and deserve. Contact the Law Office of Sammons & Carpenter as soon as possible at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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A recent medical malpractice and wrongful death judgment came to the attention of our Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers. It is always sad to see these situations where medical negligence causes the wrongful death of the victim, as it did in this case.

The case comes from a visit to a pain clinic in January 2011 by 52-year-old William Wardell Bennett. The pain clinic was Brunswick Wellness and Mr. Bennett checked in to treat his chronic back pain. He had a history of medical conditions that none of the staff checked into or asked about. It was the only time he had ever gone to that clinic. Six days later Mr. Bennett was dead from a drug overdose in his home in Appling County, after complaining of respiratory problems two days earlier. An autopsy showed he had multiple drugs in his system that acted together to kill him. Six months after Mr. Bennett's visit and tragic death, the clinic was raided and shut down by Georgia authorities.

The doctor at Brunswick Wellness that prescribed these drugs to Mr. Bennett was Dennis Momah, who pled guilty in a criminal case earlier this year to prescribing addictive pain medicine without a legitamite medical cause. After barely examining Mr. Bennett. Momah prescribed him 270 tablets of a variant of Oxycodone and 90 doses of Xanax. The owner of Brunswick Wellness, Roland Colandrea Jr., plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and the clinic's office manager pled guilty to money laundering. A federal indictment of Mr. Colandrea, the office manager, and three doctors, including Dr. Momah and Drs. Cleveland Enmon and Bruce Tetalman, said that they treated 35 patients in a day and one of the doctors saw as many as 63 patients in a single day. Those two other doctors are also awaiting trial on drug distribution charges.

In January, Mr. Bennett's widow, Susan Bennett, filed a lawsuit against Brunswick Wellness for medical malpractice and wrongful death for this treatment of her late husband. The lawsuit alleged that Brunswick Wellness was negligent in seeing so many patients in a day that they did not adequately evaluate the patients. It also alleged that Dr. Momah prescribed opiate painkillers with no legitimate use for treating chronic back pain, which is why Mr. Bennett was there. The Wellness clinic didn't respond to the lawsuit, so earlier this month, Judge Stephen Scarlett in Glynn County Superior Court, issued a default judgment for Mrs. Bennett for $30 million. Her husband's estate also received $5,570 for funeral expenses and pain and suffering. The judgment will never replace her husband and loss, but at least Mrs. Bennett can now have the peace of not worrying about paying the bills now that her husband is gone, and hopefully she feels some sense of justice for what happened..

Atlanta Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you have suffered from medical malpractice or if a loved one has died due to a wrongful death, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter can help you understand your case and how to move forward. Contact our law office as soon as possible at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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Last month, our Atlanta dog bite attorneys noticed a story about another young victim of a pit bull in Georgia.

At a neighborhood PetSmart on Dawsonville Highway in Hall County, the Lane family, which owns a black lab and a terrier mix, went on a shopping trip. Michelle Lane and her four children, including six-year-old David, were talking to two other customers, Darin Dyer and Craig Wooke, the latter of which had brought in his pet pit bull. Ms. Lane's daughter, Olivia, considers herself a pit bull advocate and the children were petting the dog. Ms. Lane said they let their guard down when David went up to the pit bull and the dog bit him in the face.

The little boy's face was covered in blood and his mother frantically asked for first aid as she tried to stop the bleeding. She also asked the two men who came with the pit bull to stay and talk to the authorities about the incident, but they both left anyway. James Weber, another witness to this incident, tried to confront Dyer and Wooke in the PetSmart parking lot, but reported one of them, later known to be Darin Dyer, waived a handgun and then drove away.

The hurt little boy had to go to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, where he got nine stitches in his face, although doctors think there will be no lasting damage. Mike Ledford, director of Hall County Animal Services, said they believed they had the dog and quarantined it to check for rabies as the incident was under investigation. He said it was "highly unlikely" that the pit bull had rabies, though. The investigation has been turned over to the criminal investigations section at the Gainesville Police Department. Mr. Ledford said in a dog bite investigation they check the statements of witnesses and the victim and that usually the owner of the dog admits that the dog bite occurred. Unfortunately the dog owner here acted even more irresponsibly, first with the dangerous dog and then fleeing the scene. David's mother, Ms. Lane, told reporters, "All I wanted the man to do was to see if my kid was OK and to cooperate with the authorities."

A few days after the incident, the two men were arrested in connection with the dog bite incident. Gainesville Police Cpl. Kevin Holbrook stated that Wooke, the pit bull's owner, was charged with being a party to a crime and that Dyer, who waived the gun at the witness, was charged with aggravated assault.

Atlanta Dog Bite Attorneys
If a loved one has been bitten or attacked by a dangerous dog, the personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter can help you understand your case and how to move forward. It is particularly important for the safety of Georgia's children that the owners of dangerous dogs understand they can be held accountable. Contact our law office today at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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[Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

Last week, our Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers noted a story about a medical malpractice case that will be decided by the Supreme Court of Georgia.The case is called Hankla et al. v. Postell.

The case is about the 2003 birth of Zamarion Everett at South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta. Vicki Hankla, an employee of Southern OB-GYN Associates, assisted in his birth as a certified nurse midwife. The baby's shoulders got caught in his mother's pelvis during the birth, called "shoulder dystocia", and Hankla maneuvered his shoulder out. Zamarion now suffers from permanent "brachial plexus", which is a condition where the nerves at the bottom of the neck are damaged, affecting arm and hand control and movement. Zamarion's mother, Anita Postell, sued Hankla and her employer for medical malpractice during the delivery.

The trial court found for Hankla, using the testimony of a medical expert, Dr. Sandra Brickman, on the standard of care in a situation like what happened with baby Zamarion. The Court of Appeals reversed that decision, finding that the medical expert wasn't competent to testify about the standard of care for a nurse midwife. Dr. Brickman is a board certified OB-GYN with hands on experience with "shoulder dystocia". The Court of Appeals looked at the specifics of the Georgia law on expert testimony in medical malpractice cases. The law states that the expert must either be in active practice or teaching for three of the last five years, and also must be a member of the same profession as the person he/she is testifying about. Dr. Brickman is not a nurse midwife, so the only exception under this law would be if she had been teaching nurse midwives for three of the past five years, according to the Court of Appeals. This was not the case. So the Court found an error and reversed the trial court's judgment.

Hankla appealed to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments this week. She claims that since the relevant law was enacted, "physician experts in Georgia unanimously have been held competent to testify when they have demonstrated sufficient personal experience either providing or teaching the care at issue in a given case." Zamarion's mother, Ms. Postell, argues the Court of Appeals was correct in their judgment and that the "language of the statute is clear and unambiguous, and the legislature's 'intent' is embodied in that language."

We will have to wait and see what the Supreme Court decides on this issue, which could have important consequences for evidence in future medical malpractice trials in Georgia.

Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyers
If you or a loved one has been injured by a negligent medical professional, the personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter may be able to help. As the case above shows, medical malpractice cases often involve expert witnesses and complicated evidence, so an experienced attorney can explain the case and how best to move forward. Contact our law office today at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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A scary story came out of California recently about an elderly woman who died even though a trained nurse was standing right next to her. Our Atlanta elder abuse lawyers know that Georgia's seniors, as well as seniors across the country, are rightly concerned about this story.

The California tragedy occurred earlier this month. 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless collapsed in the dining room of her independent living facility, Glenwood Gardens, in Bakersfield, California. A nurse, an employee of Glenwood, got on the 911 phone call. The 911 operator pleaded with the nurse, named Colleen, to give Ms. Bayless CPR. Colleen told the dispatcher that company policy forbade her from performing CPR. The policy required her to wait with the hurt or sick person, but not provide any medical care. Repeatedly the dispatcher pleaded with her, and asked her to find someone else to help Ms. Bayless. The 911 call sounds horrifyingly cruel, with Colleen stating, "Not at this time" in answer to the question of whether there was anyone around willing to help Ms. Bayless. At another point the dispatcher said that the lady will die, and Colleen responded "Yeah." Emergency personnel arrived seven minutes after the 911 call, but it was already too late for Ms. Bayless. The avoidable tragedy is heartbreaking, and it is understandable why Georgia seniors might be worried.

A Georgia news story on the incident points out that Georgia's Good Samaritan law would protect people trying to help in an emergency situation from liability. This law applies as long the helper is not getting paid. But even without the Good Samaritan law, many retirement and nursing home staff were also shocked and upset by the incident in California. Greg Rowe, Director of Dougherty County EMS, said, "I've never gone anywhere that I can remember where they were just sitting, waiting on us to get there." And Dr. Graham Nichol, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington, noted that CPR more than doubles the chances of survival, also noting, "If liability was a concern, I would suspect there is a greater liability if someone dies."

The company, Brookdale Senior Living Inc., that owns Glenwood, where Ms. Bayless died in California, issued a statement saying, "This incident resulted from a complete misunderstanding of our practice with regards to emergency medical care for our residents." They are now reviewing their policies and an internal review of Ms. Bayless's situation. It is too late for Ms. Bayless and those she left behind, though. And we hope that nothing like this happens at any Georgia nursing or independent senior living home.

Atlanta Elder and Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If a loved one has been the victim of elder abuse or abuse at a nursing home, the personal injury attorneys at Sammons & Carpenter may be able to help. Our vulnerable elderly friends and relatives deserve to be cherished and protected, not taken advantage of. Contact our law office as soon as possible at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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Technology seems to be progressing at a crazy pace these days. Think of all the gadgets and things we take for granted now. So when our Atlanta product liability lawyers saw an article about driverless cars, it seemed like something that could possibly be not too far in the future of our lives. Google has a fleet of driverless cars and Audi and BMW are investing in the new technology too. Driverless cars are already being tested in some parts of the US.

Most car accidents are due to some kind of human error, whether negligent or reckless or otherwise. It is the number one cause of road accidents and as much as 90 percent of fatal car accidents are due to a human mistake. So theoretically, new driverless cars could save thousands of lives by reducing the risk of many accidents. It could especially counter the more extreme forms of dangerous driver behavior, such as road rage. And of course it could also impact drunk driving, as well, if those intoxicated could mainly, or someday entirely, depend on their car to drive them home.

The new question that will be faced once these driverless cars are on the roads is who will be liable in a car crash. The auto industry knows that there is a high likelihood of product liability law being more prevalent in car crash cases in the driverless future, although industry experts note that there will still, at least in the foreseeable future, be drivers in the car, just with less active driving than now. This is an issue that will have to be addressed and sorted out. Last year, Arizona introduced a law to cover driverless cars. Nevada and California have laws on the books about driverless cars, too, including a provision that requires a licensed driver to be in the car ready to take over driving at any time. So that driver would still have the potential for liability in crashes involving these new cars, as they do with regular driver-operated cars. It won't be long before most states will have provisions to face this new technology. Jeff Dial, who introduced the Arizona law, said, "The more you deal with this issue, the more the issue grows and grows." One other idea to confront the product liability issue is to model driverless car liability after the way vaccine liability is handled. Congress created a special way to handle these cases in the 1980s, and now the cases go to special hearings and victims are paid through funding provided by a tax on vaccines.

Atlanta Product Liability Attorneys
If you or someone in your family has been injured by a defective product, the personal injury lawyers at Sammons & Carpenter can help you understand the often complex product liability laws, whether you have a case, and, if so, how to move forward. Contact our law office today to talk to an experienced attorney at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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Our Atlanta wrongful death attorneys know that losing a loved one is one of the worst things that can happen. And it is one of parents' worst fears to have to bury a child. That is what happened to the parents of Gary "Danny" Mimbs in January 2011.

That night in January, Mr. Mimbs went to a bar in Macon, the Whisky River, to meet friends. After drinking, he got into a fight and another patron, Jeremy Jackson, punched him in the head. A security guard at the bar broke up the fight and two body guards led Mr. Mimbs and Jackson outside. Once outside, Mr. Mimbs blacked out. He was taken to the hospital and a few hours later was declared brain dead. He was taken off life support and passed away soon after.

The criminal case against Jackson still hasn't been resolved more than two years later, much to the frustration of Danny Mimbs' mother, Vicky Rich. Jackson has been free on bond since February 2011 and claims he was defending himself in the fight against Mr. Mimbs. Last week, the criminal charges for Jackson were upgraded when a grand jury indicted him for murder and aggravated assault, up from the previous charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Aside from the criminal case, Mr. Mimbs' family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Bibb County State Court against Jackson, Whisky River, and four security guard/ bouncers involved in their son's altercation. The family claims that Mimbs' death was not only due to Jackson's punch, but also that the security guards dropped him on the pavement outside after the fight, which may have increased the injuries to his spinal cord and brain. The lawsuit also alleges that bouncers were heard telling Jackson they would stay out of the way and "he would have a free shot" at Mr. Mimbs. The family asserts that Jackson hit Danny Mimbs several times and that the bouncers did nothing to prevent the physical attack. They also claim Whisky River's bouncers were negligent in not warning Mr. Mimbs about Jackson. Also, once Mr. Mimbs was injured and on the floor, he was not responsive. The lawsuit claims that they should not have moved him and that the movement might have broken his neck. The family is seeing $250,000 in punitive damages, $10,820 in funeral expenses, $42,504 for medical costs, as well as compensation for Danny Mimbs' pain and suffering.

Atlanta Wrongful Death Attorneys
If you or someone in your family has died as a result of another's negligence, the personal injury lawyers at Sammons & Carpenter can explain what legal steps may be taken. Money can never replace a loved one or heal the pain, but it may be able to help with bills and expenses and also serve to obtain some measure of justice for your loss. Our lawyers have experience dealing with all types of personal injury cases, including wrongful death, and can help you to understand your case. Contact our law office today at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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The Norfolk Southern Railway Co. has had several expensive decisions handed down against it in the past few years by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Recently, the company was ordered to pay $1.1 million to three employees, one in Indiana and two in Pennsylvania, because OSHA found that they had been injured at work and retaliated against when they reported their injuries. The Indiana employee, who was injured when a sliver of metal entered his eye, was awarded $438,000 in punitive damages, back wages, benefits and other costs and ordered to be reinstated to his job at his proper seniority level with all the vacation and sick leave he would have earned had he been working. The company was ordered to pay the other two $648,000 for the same costs after injuries in a traffic accident. These are only three three examples as Norfolk Southern has paid numerous claimants for retaliation claims after workplace injury reporting over the past few years. Some of these cases settled, but some have had to go through the whole process for the employee to receive compensation. Just this month, an OSHA spokesperson said, "The company continues to retaliate against employees for reporting work-related injuries, and these actions have effectively created a chilling effect in the railroad industry."

As Georgia work accident attorneys, we know that these work accident retaliation cases have had an impact in our state as well. Last November, an incident with Norfolk Southern occurred in Savannah. The worker in question, whose name was not released because of a Department of Labor policy on whistleblowers, was fired from his job on November 5, 2009. OSHA found that he was forced to sign a "leniency waiver" by the company on March 30, 2010 and then he returned to work six months later on September 20. OSHA stated that this employee's investigative hearing was "severely flawed and intentionally designed to support its decision to terminate the worker."

OSHA ordered Norfolk Southern to pay that employee more than $288,000 for this alleged retaliation for his work injury claim. Norfolk Southern's actions violated the whistleblower provisions of the Federal Railway Safety Act, according to OSHA. The company has challenged the ruling. Robin Chapman, their spokesman, wrote an email saying, "OSHA's investigation in this matter is flawed and one sided because, to date, Norfolk Southern has not been permitted to question the employee under oath or cross examine any of his witnesses. We disagree with the finding and will appeal to an administrative law judge."

Atlanta Work Accident Attorneys
If you or someone in your family has been injured in a work accident, the Work Injury Lawyers at Sammons & Carpenter may be able to help you get the needed worker's compensation and protection from retaliation from your employer. Contact our law office today at 855-814-8948 as soon as possible, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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Elder abuse law is an often difficult legal practice area, because we all feel instinctively disgusted by people who take advantage of the most vulnerable members of society. But it is a field where compassionate and experienced lawyers are truly necessary, to try to help the victims of elder abuse. A recent story highlighted the unscrupulous nature of this type of abuse.

Phyllis Roberts, a Duluth area resident, saved all her life to be able to afford in-home care when she became too elderly and infirm to take care of herself. She wanted the comfort of dying in her own home, and she saved $400,000 for this purpose. However, one of her sons, Steven Lee Roberts, took power of attorney over his mother, subsequently wiping out her savings and fleeing to California. Her other son, Fred, and his wife Nan, said that Mrs. Roberts was "terrorized" and devastated, unable to understand why she had to leave her home. Nan said she never understood that the money was really gone. They had to place her in a nursing home and her son Fred said she kept asking, "What's happening with my property? Can I go home? Is the money coming back?" And he could not answer her.

Steven Lee Roberts has been in jail in Gwinnett County for nearly two years on theft charges for the $400,000. But Mrs. Roberts died in the nursing home, without getting her money back or being able to return to her house. The family says court delays have kept Steven Roberts case from going to trial. But now, Georgia's Department of Human Services is trying to work on smoothing the process and educating people on the horrors of elder abuse. Pat King of DHS said they are training first responders and prosecutors about elder abuse and how to identify and investigate it promptly. Although it is too late for her mother-in-law, Nan Roberts told reporters, "They should be a high priority at this stage in their lives. They worked their whole life and saved their whole lives, [and] someone comes along and takes it." Pat King noted that Mrs. Roberts's case is not unusual for the delays but that the new programs and training are opening people's eyes to the devastation elder abuse can cause the victims and their families.

Atlanta Elder Abuse Lawyer
If a loved one has been the victim of elder abuse, either by a family member, in a nursing home, or by a stranger, the personal injury lawyers at Sammons & Carpenter may be able to help. As in the case above, this can often be a time sensitive issue and an experienced attorney will do everything possible to resolve a case as expeditiously as possible. The system is slow, so it is important to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. Contact our law office today at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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Our Georgia medical malpractice lawyers saw that a new bill has been proposed in the Georgia legislature. The bill, proposed by Senator Brandon Beach of Alpharetta, would change Georgia's medical malpractice recovery system into a State-run board, instead of using the court system.

This bill would create a patient injury board, much like the one used in worker's compensation claims. The board would be composed of three doctors, one hospital administrator, business executives, attorneys, one accountant, and two patient advocates, totaling 11 members. Senator Beach says that doctors order unnecessary and costly tests on their patients in fear of a medical malpractice lawsuits, and cited a Gallup poll asserting that these unnecessary tests cost $13 billion annually in unnecessary medical expenses for Georgians. The Senator links this to the rising cost of health care and proposes that this new injury board would scale back on the costs of lawsuits and thus on health care overall. Senator Beach said, "I think that this bill reduces the cost of defensive medicine. And it increases the true patient access to justice quickly." He noted that this system will allow injured patients to have direct access to the board and to get money more quickly to compensate for the injuries suffered than under the current court system.

The bill has attracted controversy already, however. The Medical Association of Georgia opposes the bill because they claim it will increase claims and thus actually raise the cost of malpractice to the system. The Association also noted that it would undo some of the tort reform included in Georgia's 2005 law.

As personal injury lawyers, we have different reasons for opposing this change. Our job is to ensure that deserving, injured patients get the compensation they deserve and also to keep the system honest and to prevent cover-ups of mistakes and problems, thus making healthcare safer for future patients, not only those already injured. Jay Sadd, the president of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, made an excellent point when he noted that, "The proposed bill that's written violates the 7th amendment right to trial by jury here in Georgia. There's also the United States constitutional right to a trial by jury. What is being attempted is to create a system of justice where doctors and other healthcare providers just sort of govern themselves." The Medical Association is also likely correct that it wouldn't save the state money, and the bill would replace our functioning and independent judicial system with another government-run bureaucracy - hardly a step forward.

Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you or a family member has been injured as a result of negligent medical care, the personal injury lawyers at Sammons & Carpenter may be able to help you get the compensation you need and deserve. Our medical malpractice lawyers follow all of the legal developments in Georgia and can advise you on your legal options. Contact our law office today at 404-814-8948, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form for a free consultation.

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